Dracula

      The monsters in literature that stick with us through the decades are not the ones that come purely from imagination. The monsters that we write about, think about, and make movies about most are either the monsters that we create or the monsters we become. We are afraid of the part of ourselves that is most like the monsters we fear.One example that supports this idea would be Dracula. Dracula is a monster we fear because he represents the part of ourselves that is afraid of the dark, shadows, the unknown part of death.
    The monster Dracula is a vampire who is an undead human. He can only go out at night and during the day stays in his coffin. He turns into a bat and at night goes out looking for blood to drink. He can be killed by stabbing a stake through his heart. The story says Dracula became a vampire when he was fighting Rome.  His wife killed herself thinking he was dead. The priest said she was damned because she took her own life, so Dracula cursed god and left his religion. He made a deal with the devil who gave him the power to get his revenge and he became the thing that people fear.
      Dracula represents the part of people that fear the dark, shadows, the unknown part of death and what our reactions will be to things that make us mad or sad. He became evil because his wife killed herself and the priest said that she was damned.  That made him both angry and sad so he did something evil and became what he is. He only comes out at night. He is cursed to never be in or have any light. He is undead.  People always wonder what will happen to them after they die. They wonder if there is life after death or if death is the end of existence. We can learn that the reason Dracula became what he is, is because he did something evil and stupid. The dark and the unknown can be scary.  Darkness is not always bad, so there is not always something to fear, but the story of Dracula plays on fear.
      The reason people fear monsters that come from us is because people can often relate to them in some ways, or many ways, and realize they could end up like them. They usually only represent the bad side of people. I think it can teach people that making good decisions is really important and that decisions can affect their whole life, or unlife.